June 5, 2026
Since 2024, russia has been actively building reinforced-concrete aircraft shelters at 14 airbases around Ukraine, but now russian sources are complaining that these structures are failing to provide the protection they were intended to offer
Since 2024, russia has been investing heavily in the construction of reinforced aircraft shelters at airbases near Ukraine. These structures were intended to protect tactical aircraft from Ukrainian drone attacks and ATACMS ballistic missiles armed with cluster warheads. The fortification program was launched under orders issued by russia’s newly appointed defense minister at the time, Andrei Belousov.
By the summer of 2025, construction activity had been documented at 14 airbases located around Ukraine and in occupied Crimea. These were not simple upgrades to existing facilities. russia was forced to build entirely new shelters because modernized aircraft such as the Su-30, Su-34, and Su-35 are too large to fit inside the standard Soviet-era 2A13 hardened shelters. The larger 2A19 shelters, meanwhile, were rarely constructed within the russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic during the Soviet period.
Now, however, russian military commentators are beginning to complain that Ukrainian drones are successfully striking reinforced concrete aircraft shelters. One russian military blogger recently reported such an incident, indicating that Ukraine’s Defense Forces had achieved a successful hit using drones. At present, russian sources appear uncertain whether this represents a new systematic capability or an isolated case.
One possible explanation is straightforward. Ukrainian middle-strike drones have recently begun receiving significantly larger warheads. For example, in late May, Denys Shtilierman, co-founder and chief designer of Fire Point, announced that the FP-2 drone would be equipped with a warhead weighing up to 200 kilograms.
The Soviet-designed 2A13 shelter features concrete walls approximately 60 centimeters thick, while the newer 2A19 uses 50-centimeter reinforced concrete combined with an internal steel liner. However, these structures were designed primarily to withstand near misses from conventional bombs, fragmentation effects, and cluster submunitions.
The exact design of russia’s newly built shelters remains unknown. Nevertheless, it is unlikely that the threat assessments used during their construction in 2024 adequately accounted for large strike drones carrying increasingly powerful warheads.
The type of warhead currently used on the FP-2 remains undisclosed. One possible solution could involve a multi-stage penetrator concept similar to the BROACH warhead employed by Storm Shadow and SCALP cruise missiles. Such a design uses a precursor shaped charge to create an opening, followed by a larger main warhead that detonates inside the target.
At the same time, direct penetration may not even be necessary to damage aircraft inside hardened shelters. A sufficiently powerful high-explosive blast can generate spalling on the inner surface of concrete walls and ceilings. High-velocity concrete fragments then act much like shrapnel, potentially causing severe damage to aircraft sheltered inside.
There may already be evidence that Ukraine is pursuing such an approach. In late April, Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces reportedly carried out a successful strike against hardened shelters used by Iskander tactical missile systems near Ovrazhky in occupied Crimea. Those structures are broadly similar in design to aircraft shelters.
If such attacks become systematic, the consequences could extend far beyond the loss of individual aircraft. They could undermine the operational viability of russian airbases and negate years of effort and significant resources invested in constructing these hardened protective structures.
You know darned well that things are bad when the roaches admit a problem.
There is reinforced concrete made to Western standards, and reinforced concrete made to mafia land standards. Cement is replaced with sand, and steel reinforcing bars disappear to be transformed into a new Merc.
We see right through their corruption, don’t we? In mafia land, sand replaces cement and potatoes replace generals.
Let’s see what they replace petrol and diesel with.
Alcohol could replace gasoline … but wait!
“A Su-34 with a 14.7-meter wingspan against the backdrop of a 13-meter-wide 2A13 shelter”
Brain drain……….lol